Community Safety. Educational Outcomes and Career Pathways. Housing. Health.
WILMINGTON, N.C. The Endowment is investing more than $12 million in new grants to advance a unified approach to community safety and well-being, strengthen career pathways, improve educational outcomes, promote affordable housing, and build an integrated healthcare system.
“These investments reflect a deliberate, data-informed strategy to strengthen New Hanover County,” said Sophie Dagenais, President and CEO. “The slate announced today reflects our plans, shared at our recent public meeting and board listening session, to occasionally convene and work with grantees as a group, to complement individual grant awards. Using this approach, we hope to deepen our impact and help organizations learn from one another, strengthen collaboration, and demonstrate how systems of support are interconnected.”
At the center of this announcement are 11 Community Safety grants totaling more than $8 million. Fostering a coordinated group approach and year-round support across a cohort of grantees working together, these investments support children, youth, adults, and families across New Hanover County. The funding broadens access to mentorship, enrichment, life skills development, and workforce training and preparedness programs, while also strengthening re-entry supports and pathways to opportunity. At the same time, it deepens the availability of trauma-informed services for victims of violence, families in crisis, and justice-involved residents, ensuring more responsive, integrated care for those who need it most.
“Young people are disproportionately affected by community safety challenges, and the issues they face are often connected, from trauma and family instability to disconnection from school and work,” said Mary Vail Ware, Director of Social and Health Equity and Community Safety. “These grants strengthen prevention and response, reduce gaps in support, and help residents get assistance when and where they need it.”
The Endowment will pair funding with integrated data support and targeted technical assistance to help grantees strengthen their capacity, adopt evidence-based practices, and improve outcome measurement by consolidating and analyzing program and public data to better understand long-term impact across the portfolio of grants. A technical assistance partner will also work with the grantees that work with victims of human trafficking, both collectively and individually, to enhance collaboration, align services, and advance best practices.
Adding to its education portfolio, The Endowment will make a $675,000 grant to Advise NC through the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Precollege Mentoring Program, to help New Hanover County high school students plan for life after graduation. With the grant, three New Hanover County high schools, John T. Hoggard, Eugene Ashley, and Career Readiness Academy at Mosley PLC, will implement AdviseNC, joining more than 160 other high schools across 82 counties statewide. AdviseNC uses an evidence-based model that includes one-on-one advising, family engagement, FAFSA and college application support, and individualized Next Step Plans to help students transition successfully to post-secondary education and employment.
A capacity building grant to United Way of Cape Fear will support local partners in their exploration of StriveTogether as an implementation model to improve educational outcomes, cradle to career and beyond. The model focuses on aligning schools, nonprofits, businesses, government, and philanthropy around shared outcomes for young people, strengthening coordination and creating clearer pathways to economic mobility.
“These investments reflect two important ideas: helping young people navigate their next steps and strengthening the systems around them,” said David Stegall, Director of Education and Community Development. “When students and their families have the guidance they need to navigate increasingly complex systems, and when our schools, nonprofits, businesses, government, and philanthropy are working together toward shared goals, we create stronger pathways to opportunity for the whole community.”
Building on a 2024 investment to Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity, a new $950,000 grant will support the acquisition of land in Castle Hayne for a 30-acre affordable housing development, enabling the construction of 150–200 homes. The project will expand and preserve homeownership opportunities for the county’s workforce, alongside education and financial counseling programs that promote long-term housing stability.
“Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity expands and sustains opportunities for successful homeownership by easing housing cost burdens and promoting financial stability for New Hanover County families,” said Terri Burhans, Senior Network Officer for Community Development. “In doing so, Habitat strengthens workforce retention and promotes long-term community stability.”
A $2.5 million grant to Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear will build a community care hub, expand access to social services and basic needs, and improve coordination among healthcare providers and community-based social service organizations. Building on a $1.5 million planning grant awarded in 2025, the model is designed for long-term sustainability through a mix of medical payer reimbursements, employer contributions, philanthropic investments, and public funding.
“This community care hub has the potential to become the first Social Care Network of its kind in the United States,” said Leigh Quarles, Senior Network Officer. “It is designed to serve all residents, regardless of payer source or background, and its intentionally diversified funding model is built for long-term sustainability. By connecting residents to services that address health-related social needs such as aging services, maternal and infant healthcare, behavioral health referrals, and by promoting ‘food as medicine’ and linking residents to housing and other social supports, the initiative aims to transform and align interconnected systems across New Hanover County and help our entire community live healthier lives.”
The Endowment’s new investments reflect its 2026 commitment to move from strategy to action and drive its strategic plan in alignment with New Hanover County’s strategic plan, promoting long-term community well-being and opportunity across the county.
About The Endowment
The Endowment’s mission is to improve the health, education, safety, and economic opportunity of every person in New Hanover County. For more about The Endowment and to stay informed about upcoming grant opportunities, visit www.theendowment.org.
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GRANT AWARDS:
COMMUNITY SAFETY
A Safe Place – $313,806 (one year): To support long-term, safe, transitional housing and support for victims of human trafficking in New Hanover County.
Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern North Carolina – $419,348 (one year): To support the launch of a safety-focused, trauma-informed care model along with targeted outreach to underserved youth for participation in youth-development programs.
DREAMS Center for Arts Education – $412,000 (over three years): To support facility upgrades and resources, and help build diversified and sustainable funding pathways, for youth development through arts education.
Education Without Walls – $160,000 (over two years): To provide intensive case management and life skills development for at-risk youth.
Family Promise of the Lower Cape Fear – $260,226 (over two years): To support transitional housing for unhoused families with children under 18, along with operating expenses for development and property maintenance.
Foster Pantry, Inc. – $200,000 (over two years): To support services, resources, and programs for children in foster care, youth aging out of foster care, and kinship caregivers.
Five14 Revolution – $822,600 (over three years): To support operating expenses to increase staff capacity relative to client load and sustain their work in the community for victims of human trafficking.
Keep Your Hands Off Me, Inc. – $300,000 (over two years): To support direct services for victims of intergenerational abuse, with an emphasis on sexual abuse.
Legal Aid of North Carolina – $462,814 (one year): To support civil legal services for families in need, including protective orders, housing assistance, and expungement.
Leading Into New Communities, Inc. – $2,069,736 (over two years): To support reentry services, including transitional housing, mental health counseling, employment assistance, and healthcare connections.
United Way of Cape Fear – $2,801,248 (over two years): To support a network of nonprofit and public partners serving residents in neighborhoods where social determinants of crime are above the county average.
EDUCATION
Advise NC via University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Precollege Mentoring Program – $675,000 (over 3 years): To provide postsecondary near-peer advising support in three high schools—John T. Hoggard, Eugene Ashley, and Career Readiness Academy at Mosley PLC—through one-on-one student advising, parent and family engagement, FAFSA assistance, college application assistance, creation of a Next Step Plan, and planning and facilitating student engagement opportunities.
United Way of Cape Fear – Up to $25,000 (one year): To explore the StriveTogether implementation model and sponsor a group from New Hanover County to attend a national conference.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT:
Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity – $950,000 (one year): To support the acquisition of a 30-acre site for the development and construction of 150-200 new and affordable homes in New Hanover County.
SOCIAL AND HEALTH EQUITY:
Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear – $2,507,000 (one year): To launch and establish a Social Care Network to strengthen local service delivery systems, create a community care hub, expand access to essential support, and improve coordination among healthcare and community-based organizations.